Latest sexist ad: "Even your wife can turn on the DVD"
By Jessica GentileApril 28th, 2011, 10:15 amComments (29)
Technology may have come a long way since the 1950s, but ads for it sure haven't. Check out the latest advertisement for AudioOne, a device that allows you to turn on lots of appliances with the click of a button. It reads "So simple even your wife can turn on the DVD." Sounds like the kind of sexist drivel Don Draper would approve, though he'd probably be befuddled in a drunken stupor as to whatever the heck a DVD is. It's not only insulting to women, but just people in general, because really who can't tap a few buttons on an oversized remote control?
Keep in mind the ad appeared in the latest issue of Lexington Life Magazine, which came out in April 2011, not 1911. And yes, lots of technologically-abled women are pretty pissed. Some companies have even pulled their ads from the magazine in protest and Ms. Magazine is sponsoring a petition against the company. It's so easy, even a slightly offended consumer (which should be anyone with functioning neurons) can sign it.
Commentarium (29 Comments)
Yeah, so? We are constantly bombarded with ads in which a guy is dumb and can't figure something out until his wife comes and corrects him.
I'm with moops on this one. While it's offensive to say the wife is stupid, it's offensive to say that anybody is stupid. There's a definite double-standard in the modern day american ad industry where calling men idiots is okay.
Actually, considering most producers of advertisements are male, images depicting misogynistic statements such as the one above take on an added sense of sinister social injustice. With men (especially white men) being the power holders of our culture, the designers of our advertising and media, they essentially control the message and depiction of women. Very few men are told there's no way they can understand something electronic, whereas women working in the technical industry are frequently prejudiced against or condescended to for working in "a man's business".
A man taking the place of the woman in this ad would be a playful fiction, considering there's no way any man would be told that there's no way he could work the remote. Putting a woman in the ad continues to re-enact the misogynist idea that women are stupid and have no idea how to work anything electronic outside of the kitchen - a microaggression and idea that women face almost everyday.
If you would also look at the ads in which "a guy is dumb and can't figure something out until his wife comes and corrects him", many of them feature a man making a mistake while doing something domestic, which goes even further to enforce the gender divide, adding the ideology that men don't understand domestic things and need women to do all the house work and look after the children because otherwise they'll mess it up. It's another form of misogyny which not only proves that sexism is harmful to both sexes (since this discourse represents men as incompetent) but also serves to keep women in their places - the kitchen.
tl;dr, advertising is made by men, that is why this advert is so very offensive.
I'm with you - there is so many "dumb guy, smart woman" commercials that we don't even bat an eyelash anymore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxSbeqShyfc
The fact that one sexist commercial that points the other direction creates such an uproar is a sign of how lopsided this really is.
And then we wonder why men in today's society don't have a healthy understanding of masculinity when the images of men we're bombarded by since birth frames us a stupid boys utterly dependent on the all knowing woman.
Pick up an old Bernstein Bears book and you'll see how early it starts
@Nick: Would you like to elaborate on what "a healthy understanding of masculinity" means to you? Because I have a feeling that it is based on some backwards macho concepts. Would love to see if you can prove me wrong, though.
Hey Dan, the last thing I mean is backwards macho concepts. I refer to any healthy definition of what it means to be a man.
After feminist revolution began we've learned how we shouldn't act any more as men - those backwards macho concepts that you express - but what we haven't learned is what to replace them with.
Instead I feel that in order to amend the mistakes of our grandfathers, we have to a certain extent under-asserted ourselves and left women not with equal partners - but with boys looking to them for guidance because we were left without healthy role models that we could base our developing masculine identity off of.
Note: I don't necessarily equate "masculine" with the male gender. I believe there are individuals born with vaginas that have a more masculine energy that are left with even less guidance from our society on how to express that in a healthy way
This pisses me off, but what bothers me the most is the women who go along with it. What was this woman paid for this picture? Was it worth it? Do women buy from this company? I'm sure they do. Women need to start standing up for themselves, and not participate in sexist behavior.
Anyone who's ever been familiar with a struggling actor/model will tell you: you don't really get to pick your jobs.
"Turn on the DVD?" Does that even make sense? "Turn on the DVD player" is usually preferred, right? Am I crazy?
Also, that photo looks like it was taken 30 years ago.
Sure, it's a little un-PC, but the truth of it is, most women are not as into gadgets and technology as much as men are. If this company does custom home theater and audio, I'm CERTAIN that 99% of their clients are rich, married men. Duh. It's offensive to me that in 2011, we still cannot acknowledge our differences and poke fun at them.
I agree with the people who mentioned that there are so many ads that depict idiot husbands not knowing how to do anything (particularly around the house or involving children) but to me that doesn't elicit a "yeah, so?" They're just all outrages to me...
Hilarious video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7vtyheqPVU
I would buy it, came home one day and the wife was having friends over for big screen movie night, I said something about the sound not sounding right, and she flew into a slight cursing rage about how this #$%@ was so #$ckin complicated, and how much it was pissen her off, so I made up some step by step instructions for her. She is quite techno advanced, so I knew if she could not figure it out it was to complicated
Posters are right, this ad will actually help sales especially from guys like me
Modern Family had a whole episode about it and last season and I don't remember a peep of outcry about that. In general I'm not a fan of sexist advertising and I'd readily admit that this isn't a good ad, but if you're seriously offended by this you're just on the lookout for things to be offended by. On average adult males are the purchasers of component home theatre systems and by virtue of not wanting to look like a jackass who wasted a couple grand, take the time to learn how to use it. On average the women married to those men would prefer something with apple's "it just works" design aesthetic. This is poorly pointed out in a bad ad, but it's no cause to grab pitchforks and storm the gates. There's about a billion more important causes more worthy of your time.
The feminists can just fuck off. When it comes how the relative intelligence of the genders is portrayed in advertising, they have nothing to complain about. You can't go through a single day without seeing a smart woman/dumb man ad.
....yeah, and all the feminists I know (including myself) hate that shit. When are people going to understand that the definition of feminism is just pro gender equality?
@notfromaroundhere - When men are made to look stupid, it's not sexism. Kind of like discriminating against white people of European descent. How do you not know this?
@Tickets, Please: Of course. How silly of me.
In American households it is generally the woman who is the primary purchaser. So "dumb husband" ads are just pandering to women's vanity.
LM, I've never, as in not ever, heard a single feminist object to any smart woman/dumb man ad.
have you ever tried talking to any feminists? do you spend any time with them? Are you friends with any of them such that you would hear them express their feelings on any subject? watch the link i posted to see a prominent feminist talk about dumb man ads. All, as in ALL of the feminists I know object to them, and they hurt women as well as men, because they suggest that men are just incapable of helping around the house/ taking care of children, so the responsibility is all on you, ladies! you just shouldn't expect anything out of men!
Have you ever seen any of them condemn smart woman/dumb man ads in any public forum? Ever seen any of them utter a word of PROTEST equivalent to what we see every time an ad like this appears? I find this ad offensive, but I find the selective outrage in the face of a 100 to 1 ratio going the other way even more offensive. Sure, if you ASK a feminist he or she will say the smart woman/dumb man ads are offensive. But you sure won't see him or her write articles or letters to the editor.
@LM, I realize that you are one of the very few people who hates that shit. I missed that you were the one who linked to that video. I agree with you. What I object to here is the selective outrage on the part of many, in this case, Hooksexup. The ad itself does suck. It's just that it is no worse than the smart woman/dumb man ads that outnumber it 100 to 1.
Yeah, that's really it - the fact this this is the only type of ad that Hooksexup chooses to highlight for gender inequality when there's been 100's of them in the opposite direction that never raised a peep
@notfromaroundhere, just saw that you posted this after I had responded to the one above. My point still stands that the number of people who hate that shit is in fact not "very few." You seem like to have good instincts and I'm not calling you a misogynist or anything, it is just disappointing to me that feminism gets such a bad rap because so many well-meaning people don't realize what it really means.
I'm a woman IN advertising, and I cannot STAND the dumb/helpless man/husband trope. I speak out against it EVERY TIME. Offensive or not, it's at the very least lazy and unfunny, and does not well-represent any product attempting to be sold.
Wow.... She can't find a button but I bet she can find the kitchen.
It's 2011 not 1950...... this is insane
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